In cable TV dispute, shades of Congress: Editorial

Americans are quick to gripe that if government were only run like a business, all of its problems would be solved.

If only it were that simple. In some ways, the private sector is plagued by bureaucracy and politics just as badly as the public sector.

For one, corporations are prone to politically induced breakdowns, just like our legislative bodies.

Remember the debt ceiling crisis of last year or the sequestration of this year? These were manufactured crises whipped up after elected leaders couldn’t come to agreement in private and hoped the public would take sides.

The month-long dispute between Time Warner and CBS shows that corporate organizations can and do play the same political games.

The spat ended this week, not coincidentally just in time for the start of the National Football League season, but it will no doubt leave some lasting bad impressions on consumers. It’s impossible to know how many of the millions of Time Warner cable subscribers knew the details of the dispute that led to the blackout of CBS stations in three major markets, including the Los Angeles area. It didn’t really matter, they understood the basics: Two media megaliths were arguing over money, specifically retransmission fees, in a new distribution deal. Customers paid the price.

After failing to reach an agreement in the boardroom, CBS pulled its stations from Time Warner to show cable viewers just how horrible the world would be without CBS programming. Locally, this meant no Channel 2 and no Channel 9, which shows some Dodgers games; fans had to pull out the old rabbit ears and hope a hill wasn’t in the way.

This brings to mind another way in which private companies can be like government: Sometimes you are forced to pay for a service you don’t get. Time Warner has a virtual monopoly on cable TV in Los Angeles, and consumers have to pay their monthly bills no matter the programming decisions.

There are alternatives to both private and public sector services. For those with little tolerance for the yoke of government can, in some places, live off the grid. Those without tolerance for the yoke of cable companies can cut the cable and explore other, possibly better, ways to get programming.

Now, if only there were a Netflix alternative to the federal government.